Japan and China agree to speed up gas field talks

Japan and China agreed on Tuesday to speed up talks over plans to jointly exploit oil and gas fields in a disputed area of the East China Sea. Senior government officials from the two countries met at the Japanese foreign ministry in Tokyo in the first talks on the matter since their leaders pledged to tackle the issue at a summit in May.

Reuters

"The two sides agreed to aim at an early conclusion of this negotiation," the Japanese ministry said in a statement. "The two sides agreed to hold a second round of talks in Beijing this autumn."

Two years ago, the Asian economic powerhouses agreed to drill jointly for oil and gas in the north of the East China Sea, near a gas field called Longjing by China and Asunaro by Japan.

Since the June 2008 agreement, the talks have stalled. Japan has charged that China had started unilateral operations on the Chinese side of the median line, with ships reportedly observed taking equipment to the area.

A breakthrough was achieved in May during a meeting between China's Premier Wen Jiabao and his then-counterpart Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned in June and was replaced by Naoto Kan.